Millstone Road Trip

What better way to kick off the start to Summer than a trip the Millstone Trails in VT. I’ve been wanting to hit this place for a couple of years now but always ended up at the Kingdom Trails (not bad either). The two places are however, are much different.

Weekend plans when you have kids sometimes just don’t work out quite right. The original plan had my wife and I heading to Kingdom Trails to hang with my buddies and their wives/girlfriends/fiance etc… It was an open invitation as the Crossley’s rented a sweet house a couple of weeks prior. I was planning a Sunday Millstone ride followed by a Monday KT jaunt. That would not be the case as the sitter situation and logistics just wouldn’t work out.

So it was a solo day trip I decided on, which for me is just fine. The drive was long about 2.5 hours each way. I don’t get to drive much since work is only about 3.5 miles away. That’s not even enough time for one song selection. Most mornings I don’t even turn the radio on in the truck. What’s the point? So for this solo ride it was Iron Maiden, studio albums 3-4-5-6-7, which also just happens to be most of the selections they will be playing on June 26th at the Comcast Center in Mansfield. Time to brush up for that one rock show I tend to see every 2 years or so.

I was a bit late to MS due to some poor planning and phone coordinates punched into the iPhone. Who would have known there was more than one “country store” in Barre VT? Should have called Alby King he would have known which country store to park at being from VT and all.

Upon arrival everyone was already geared up and ready to go. I had everything I needed for a full day excursion except my Camelbak bladder. DOH! Left it right on the kitchen counter. So much for starting the day off right. So I pulled a Carl and started stuffing bottles into my 70oz pack. I guess in the end it all worked out we stopped more than enough to give me time to swap them out during the day.

Andy Gould, Carl DeVincent, John Hickey, myself, Rob Albert, Steve Crossley

I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, Andy looks like he’s modeling for a spot in the Colorado Cyclist catalogue? Even Carl came out for the pic, however we had to quickly get him out of the sun before his SPF 1000 melted away.

This whole place revolves around rock quarries. So there are plenty of rocks around and in my opinion suspension for the day was the right choice. The trail builders here know what they are doing and are adding trails as we speak. Just like at KT there are easy green dots to black dots and the blue intermediates. Lots of intersections so the trail map was a must. Plenty of lookout spots with pristine VT views or take some shots of many man-made vertical cliffs that lead to mineral rich waters. Trails were well-marked and numbered so we got around with no issues.

One of the main differences here are the wooden bridges, and there are plenty of them. Built with a “V” groove to prevent horizontal slippage and improve vertical tracking.

All in all there are photo opportunities all over. The terrain is super diverse, pine, hardwood, mosses, ledge rock spines, and bridges. The cross-country isn’t as fast as KT due to the added technical features, but a hell of a great time nonetheless.

Andy Gould, Carl DeVincent, John Hickey, myself, Rob Albert, Steve Crossley

NECS # 1 Weeping Willow Race Report

Well here we go again. This will be my 3rd year in a row racing the EFTA series. It’s also year three racing for Team NEMBA. What’s better than getting to hang out with a bunch of like minded trail building knuckle heads that show up week after week to race against some of New England’s Finest.
May 20th feels kind of late in the season and the weather had me feeling like late June. Sunny and warm, highs in the mid to high 70′s. The team had requested full length zippers, a great decision made in the dead of winter but a must have for our climate.
Noon time start had most people a bit nervous. It was warm, the race tent was full with new racers in their new kits. All in all we would see over half the team attending. Wow! A great start to what should be the largest race of the year.
All of the usual suspects returning as well as some new faces. For us nooners, we would have seven racers. Three single-speeders and four experts. Newcomer Mark Tucker would be joining Kevin and Shaun. Carl and Adam would join me in expert and Art took on the world in Vet II.
The geared guys went out for a ok warm up about 40 minutes before the start. Legs felt pretty heavy during the warm up so there was no telling how this day would go.
The strategy put forth by Carl was to go out and hold a moderate pace while waiting for the guys up front to crack. This in the past was never the Bully way. Hammer down get out front and try to hang on till the end. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn’t. I had also decided that a whole shot wouldn’t mean much on this day, it was too warm and too long a race, I was planning for a minimum two hour race. Start with a 50 oz pack, ditch the pack and switch to bottles for lap two and three. Also in the arsenal was some gels enough for 2 per lap.
Lap one starts at a slower than normal pace. I was sitting in mid to back of the 20+ group. I think Carl was close behind and I would not see Adam at all. Long fire road section and everyone stayed together but thinned out the herd into the first single-track. At this point I was sitting around mid pack legs feeling ok but no real go in them. At about half lap Carl showed up as we got stuck behind a Riverside guy and a Bike Barn guy. It was clear he wanted to pass however the Riverside guy wasn’t giving up position. It was a clear view of wasted effort watching many attempted passes. I was quite comfortable watching the story unfold.
Carl was great, he knew the course; “stay left” “quick up” “big right hander” as he called out features. He was also keeping me in check from chasing too hard. Approaching lap two I tried to ditch the pack, I couldn’t get the damn thing off and had to stop at the tent. Once back on course Bike Barn guy and Carl were way up ahead so it was TT mode to catch up which I did after the first single-track section. Pete Smith (Mad Alchemy) was coming back into the picture at this point as well. Apparently Bike Barn guy was bothering Carl so he decided he wanted to catch the Elites and threw down some major wattage and was gone on the second fire road section. No way I was going after him since I was still recovering from the first chase. It was Carl’s day and his course, and his time. Cold Crank, Massasoit, and now Willowdale. Would this be his day?
Well I continued to ride smart, perhaps out of the inability to lift my pace. Apparently elite pace was causing the engine to overheat and Carl was back in play. Shaun Pinney was nice enough to move over as we passed oh and now Pete Smith was there too. Mark Tucker and Kevin were up ahead as well. It was Team NEMBA vs Pete. We went by and hit the fire road that takes us back to the start. Time to finish bottle two and another gel. I was yapping at Carl to pick it up! He said no. He was going to stop at the tent and get some fluids and food. I had to stop for my last bottle which was nice and cold.
Last lap and I was sent off in a barrage of squirt guns and cheers for Dad! Too bad they weren’t super soakers, that would have felt nice on this day. I continued to turn them over through much of the last lap before Jorma Mueller (Riverside) would get me at around mile 19 or so. Out to the fire road for one final push. Nobody behind or in front, and like so many finishes I was all by myself.
A respectable 7th place was a surprise to me. Pretty happy with the result as last year I finished 12th and out of the points. Looks like Carl was right.
The Riverside guys put on one hell of an event. 2012 saw the return of many of the best sections from the 2010 season. The heat surely took its toll. Many racers cramping, stopping on the trail side, crashing out, and slicing sidewalls. It was a hard day on one of the best courses I’ve competed on. The Superfly worked flawlessly once again, and the new Bontrager 29-1′s were fast and cornered without issue.
Special thanks to my wife for bringing the kids out to watch their dad suffer for a couple hours which always is the highlight of the day no matter the finish.
Oh and by the way, USA Cycling gave me my Cat I upgrade after the Massasoit hammerfest! Apparently Crossley, King, and Ward softened them up for me.

Bear Brook B-Day Ride

I”m thinking the Strava GPS is a bit off and underestimates the milage by a bit. The ride was originally advertised as the “Return to Fort Mountain” ride. We had a mixed bag of riders showing up; Andy Gould, Alby King, Carl DeVincent, Ben Challoux, Al Raine, Pete Burrant, Jesse Taylor, and Nick Czerula. We discussed hitting the Fort climb right off the bat. I could see Alby licking his chops as he pressed the start button on his GPS. It was decided that we would complete it later since about half the group would have been lost right from the get go.

Hemlock was up first, pace was a bit higher to start with the Elite boys joining. Poor Pete was getting popped right off the bat. We headed over to Lynx climb but before getting there one of our baby wheeled bikes decided to have a flat tire on the Beaver Pond Trail. From here we would grind up Lynx trail which Alby now has the KOM. I suspect Andy was with him, however, Andy is a bit technologically challenged. (seperate blog entry required) At the top of Lynx Pete was looking beat up. I had asked him if he wanted us to start digging him a shallow grave. He said no, and grabbed some chow. He’s a warrior and would press on with us. Heading down I trail we get to the small dam where there was a large intermediate group heading in the opposite direction. Plenty of time to play on the log and take some pics, as well as letting Pete change his flat tire. (note also a 26″ tire)

Ben showing off his trials skills while Pete thows in a tube. Once back on course we headed towards Bear Hill, the less steep side and then over to lower Hedgehog Ledge. By this point half the group was starting to think about their plan B’s. We headed out and finished on Little Bear. Pace was blistering on the DH as the front group were all flexing their muscles, and leaving nothing in reserve. Strava shows about a 17.5 mph average through this section and a new KOM. Time for a quick refuel at the lot before heading out for the internal park loop. Once back to the cars only a few were willing to head out to tackle the Fort Mountain climb, so we decided to press on with the internal loop. Ben and Nick were already doing their own loop before hitting the lot. Jesse, Pete, and Al decided to also go on their own 2nd half adventure. So that just left (long sigh) Andy, Alby, Carl, and Myself.

The second half of the ride as you may have guessed was a bit faster. Starting with Bear Brook trail, then it was time for Catamount straight to the top. Andy may have cleaned the stairs if I remember. Alby and I would press on cresting the top while a hiker looked on and comments “wow! you guys are actually riding up that” I suspect most people take the bail out way before to Bear Brook Extension. You are rewarded with a 30+ mph downhill after some steep chop. After much debate with Andy about whether or not to hit Upper Cascade Trail which is just another hiking trail. We decided to hit the Alpe D’Huez climb in all its uphill glory. Rest of the day was following wheels and drafting on a mountain bike. Alby would put the screws to us on Broken Boulder, and Andy showed us what a 5″ travel bike can do on the Upper Hedgehog stairs. Finally it was one last bout with Little Bear to finish of an almost 30 mile day! Ther would be no return to Fort Mountain on this day as half of the day had already been consumed and everyones legs but Alby’s were getting tired.

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When I got home the family gave me a really cool customized gift for the races.

Ride Bully Cow Bell from the Kids

 

Massasoit Lung Opener Race Report

Well if you want to race with your buddies when they go down to the Route 66 race you’re going to need a license. As in a Cat I license for USA Cycling, and as many of you know you can’t just get one. They want to see the resume. So I sent it to them and they laughed at me and said, “where are your USAC results”? Sigh, All those EFTA races don’t count for nothing huh. So it was off to race a Cat II race with the sport guys. It’s been since 2010 that I raced in sport, no problem I thought to myself.

Lot’s of EFTA guys race the 66 races, and they all say the same thing, that is; non technical, fast, and shorter courses. You know? They were right.

I guess results get posted on Wednesdays, which is way too long in my opinion to wait for guys who need everything by yesterday. So nothing official, and I already know that they have me in the wrong finishing spot. More on that later.

Race time 1:30PM! sigh, Only 2 laps! sigh, 35+ in the 30 to 39 field, WOW! Not since the 2011 mass Start Horror can I remember that many in the field. There were bound to be some fast guys “sandbaggers” in there. I wanted no part of it. I just wanted to race Cat I. So was it a forced sandbagging? Not so much or maybe?

As many of you know, everyone south of the snow line in New England this year is fast. As we lined up for the downhill pavement start I tried to push my way in on the right. Guy looked at me and pointed to the rear with his thumb. “How rude” so this is how it’s going to be. Carl called back to me and said just jump in over here so I went back and joined my NEMBA brothers. Rob Albert was staged just to my rear left, row two and 1/2 we’ll call it.

Some pretty fast looking dudes were up front already and they knew what was going on and there would be no giving up of the front row. Race time.

Race takes off about 8 to 10 wide going down a wide paved rd before a sweeping left hand’r into some double track. Rob was throwing down like 600 watts and was just now to the front left of me entering the turn. All I could think about is crashing out in the first 1/4 mile. We rubbed elbows and I sat about 10 to 12 spots back. This would continue for about the first mile or so. A frantic pace was being laid down by this Cycle Smart guy. I knew then I had to get up front with him. I was getting nervous. He was stretching the elastic band and with no room to pass he was getting smaller.

The pace felt like Expert pace to me. By the 2 mile mark there was about 3 or 4 of us that had opened up a gap on the rest of the huge field. I started to sit on the leaders wheel or wait was I hanging on it? Depended on the terrain. In the turns and on the DH sections that were pretty fast, there was no issue hanging, however, out of the woods and onto the flats he certainly had the upper edge and would stretch out his lead. This would continue. Just me and him for much of lap 1. The pace was stupid fast, he asked me at one point if I wanted to go ahead. I chuckled and said no I’m fine where I’m at. I was lying though, I was feeling it! The pace eventually took its toll and by the end of lap 1 I was sitting in 3rd.

My preparation was a joke. Just like the Grind last year. Not enough fluids. One bottle, no gels. What a disgrace! Classic Bully error. Passing through the start finish getting ready for lap 2. I looked back and could see another guy chasing me down. About 1/2 way through lap 2 I would lose my podium spot. Still I was determined to take a top 5. Not on this day clown racer! Two more would pass and then I heard from behind just after I crashed before the nasty run-up “that better not be Shawn” Here comes Carl! Being the ultimate nice guy he says; “let me pace you a bit”. I told him “no just leave me for dead”. So he did. I rode as much of the run-up as I could. Carl jumped on his bike first and took off. There was one more climb to go on “heckler hill” and standing there were a few of my favorite Elites, Andy Gould and Steve Crossley. I am now totally defeated, notice Carl is already out of the picture. Then I hear “Carl is beating you Bully” This day has been coming for some time now, it’s over I said to myself.

OR WAS IT?

With just a slight fast downhill to the pavement it was time to make Carl wait perhaps one more race before taking me at the line. Just enough juice left in the tired legs for one more push to the line. I screamed down the hill and out onto the pavement. Carl was in TT position. I would not be denied on this day! I took it at the line by a 29er wheel in an all out sprint. Carl sound out a “NOOOOOOOOOO” as he watches his 7th place disappear before his eyes. “Nothing is over” “You just don’t turn it off”-John Rambo

Pretty competitive results the top 10 spots were only separated by 2 minutes. Maybe it wasn’t my day, maybe 66 races require more pure fitness, maybe others were looking for their Cat I upgrades on this day as well. In any event, it was just another day racing a mountain bike on a really fast and fun course.

Nice job to all who raced Sunday, and to Carl… Not yet my friend.

Rob just a bit more time on the bike and you’ll be winning trinkets in Sport!

Don’t Poke The Bear!

Every Tuesday night is the Blue Steel road ride out of Bedford NH. This ride is growing in popularity and with the growth it’s becoming faster each week. This year we’ve seen some big names showing up too. About a month ago we had Andy Gould show up and keep pace on his 700c mountain bike race machine just because he could. Around the same time Andrew Schnellinger decided to lay waste to the field with his larger than average quads while he popped riders at 30+ miles per hour down Rt 114 in Goffstown. Over the last couple of weeks Mr. Ryan Larouque (5:20 Hampshire 100 time) has been joining the festivities. Something would have to give one of these weeks.
Gould and Larouque both decided to come out yesterday. Fireworks would be Inevitable right? Perhaps? Sometimes you need just need a catalyst to activate the two.

Early on in the ride Gould, Gagnon, myself and a few others would keep the pace high. It was clear that Gouldie wanted to get a workout in, so he pulled at the front for extended periods on the rollers and flat sections of road. This would continue for some time throughout the early parts of the ride.

Litchfield has only a few decent sustained climbs so I hit them hard each time. Consistently looking over my shoulder to see who was interested. All the normal suspects would throw down in an every man for himself climbing frenzy. Something was missing though? Where were those elite fireworks I so wanted to see and be a part of? Larouque was M.I.A. up to this point in the ride. Time to take a trip back to investigate the cause of this unacceptable behavior. Or in other words, time to poke the bear!

“Ryan, what’s going on? What are you doing?” He says “Just hiding out” as he smirks and gives a giggle. I continue to harass him till he finally gives in and moves up and begins to do some work. Show time!

From this point on in the ride the pace would increase even more. Many sections of road with both Andy and Ryan driving the 15 rider group or perhaps dragging it. Riders began to pop once speeds of 26-28mph were being maintained. The main group inevitably would stay intact for the final push but nobody could really match the fury up front. I certainly got my monies worth. I’d like to think that my legs were a bit tired by that final stretch of road after my earlier attacks on the hills. However, I suspect that Andy and Ryan have big blocks under their hoods that are capable of laying down many minutes in a row of higher than average wattage. Much more than my small block that just flat out produces less.

It’s always fun for me to attempt to mix it up with the likes of Crossley, Gould, Larouque, and Allen. After all the object as always is to get stronger and to do that you need to ride with faster guys even if that means dealing with the temporary pain they can inflict.

Mid April and speeds are already approaching July/August speeds.

April HP Dehydration Ride

Discarded the planned Hill Fest Sunday for a technical ride at Harold Parker.  Worked on resurrecting my Hi-Fi all night Saturday and also in the early morning. No way I was bringing the Rigid Singlespeed to this invite only ride.  Filled up the pack with a whole 40oz of water. Should be enough for a 3 hour ride right? Wrong!

It was warm right from the start. I had a base shirt on that I had planned to wear. Parking in the direct sunlight while I was getting the kit on I thought better and removed that. Still it wouldn’t matter as massive amounts of sweat would just pour from my body. Thank god we ordered the full zip jersey’s!

Rider list was Steve Crossley, Jeff Elie, Andy Gould, Carl DeVincent, and myself. All rode the day before on the road except for myself  since I had full family obligations to attend to, which took the majority of the day. I thought to myself, “I should have some fresh legs” and for about the first two hours I did.

The weather on this day would be a factor. The temperature was pretty warm, and within two hours I was out of water and feeling it. Just like going down to Florida, you’re body takes a bit of getting used to the heat. Nevermind the fact that you’re on a bike trying to keep up with the super fast guys.

 

Crossley showing us all the durability of his new Cannondale

 

HP hurts the body and the joints, not so bad for max efforts due to the fairly flat terrain and inability to really ramp up the speed in most sections. Still there were the typical sections that hurt. We did end up stopping for some much-needed blog pics. 

 

Gould Dropping in.

 

Jeff was the first to start to hit the wall, not to mention the Stans race wheels he was running say right on them “do not use at HP”. Carl seemed to come back from the dead as early on he was MIA off the back. Andy and Steve, well they just pedal and go fast for a living so we continued to follow them around. Apparently steve wasn’t tired at all from his 70+ mile hard road effort the day before and wanted to keep riding.

Whites Team Ride

Another great turnout for the 2nd annual Whites Team Ride. “Captain” Kevin took the reigns on this one and put together an early season “moderate” ride that would include Pinkham and Crawford notches. Route Driving towards Cannon Mountain the temps continued to drop as well as the optimism that the full ride would be completed. No matter what time of year you head to the mountains you always need to prepare for the elements.

Upon arrival the temp showed an even 32 degrees and the wind had already begun picking up. To make matters worse the first 4 miles were on a decline too.
Miles ticked by quickly the first 1/2 of the ride due to a nice tailwind at times, 6 guys with fresh legs, and Andrew turning a 53/11 on the downs.

Rt 16 climb to the base of Mt Washington was nice. Controlled pace at the front. However, by this point early season fitness began to show off the back as Art and Kevin were fading a bit. With 40 miles to go I knew what was coming.

Rt 302 to Crawford was as expected. 14 miles of climbing into a constant headwind. We tried to pull Kevin up from the back bit he was just too far gone. Art would be next to crack as he fell off with 20 miles or so to go. From here on in you had two options, stay in the pack and shelter yourself or fall off the pace exposed and all alone.

Carl, Andrew, Ryan, and myself hit Crawford together. The headwall section is very short and there would be some separation. All four made it to the top without incident. We decided to continue on without Art and Kevin. For one it was too cold, and two, we knew we had to get back to the cars to get the sag wagon for Kevin.

The four man group made quick work even into the wind heading west on 302. Counter clockwise constant rotation. It was quite taxing as we rotated riders for about 40 minutes into the wind.

For an April 6th ride it was quite impressive. Usually 80+ mile rides are saved for late May. The ride was not without incident though and I’m sorry to report that my 6 year old camera fell out of my jersey pocket descending Rt 16 at 40 mph never to be seen again. We looked for it for 15 minutes. Looks like I’ll be taking a trip to Best Buy soon.